Rustic Christmas Tree & Reindeer

This card is one of my latest creations using some Kanban toppers and a Tim Holtz embossing folder that I bought from the NEC.

I started with a brown/gold pearlescent A4 card that came from my local Papermill shop (before it closed), which I folded in half to make an A5 base card. The topper was started with a 6x6 core'dinations card which is actually black with a green back. I used the green side and started by using my new Tim Holtz embossing folder to put the trees onto one side. I don't actually have an embossing machine but with a small wooden rolling pin (less than 50p from Wilko's) and a bit of brute force, you can create the same effect without the expensive machinery!

The reindeer topper and message topper came from a Kanban kit bought from Ideal World/Create & Craft. Both pieces were originally white with the gold embossing and were from a kit that contained toppers you could colour yourselves. I used my 'Walnut Stain' distress ink to colour both of the toppers and also to create a border on the green embossed card. The final element was the ribbon which was from an Anita's sticky ribbon set. The topper and the message were then simply mounted with 3d foam.

A simple card but an effective one I think, fitting in with a modern country/rustic feel.

Distress inks & stamps xmas scene

This is one of the cards that I made this afternoon, ready for my schools christmas fair next month.

The inspiration came from the stamps used which are from Kanban from a kit I got from QVC. The idea was on the inspiration sheet but I have adapted it slightly. I started with a pale blue A4 card which was simply folded in half to make the A5 card. I used a Kanban fancy snowflake stamp with the 'chipped saphire' Tim Holtz distress ink to stamp the background of the card and also added the dark blue organze ribbon around the edge.

The topper was started by again using the chipped saphire ink to stamp the frame aspect which is again from the Kanban stamp set. I used my xcut trimmer to cut a small border and used my xcut scissors to trim out the centre of the frame leaving a small white border. The background was made using pearlescent printable paper from anna marie designs http://www.annamariedesigns.com/, stormy sky distress inks, black memento ink, some more Kanban stamps, frosted lace stickles and plenty of post-its!

So that I didn't get any ink on the edge of the paper which would be visible as the mat, I started by sticking some large post-its around each edge to stop the ink getting to those parts. I then used my foam tape roll to provide a stencil to cut a circle from another post-it. This circle provided the mask for the moon. I then took one last large post-it and carefully tore it along the sticky edge to create a rough border. I stuck the 'moon' mask onto the card and the rough edge a little further down at a slight angle. I then used my 'stormy sky' distress ink to ink the top section of the topper. I then moved the 'rough border' post-it, slightly further down and, this time, just inked close to the edge of the post-it creating the snow scene. After the ink had had a few seconds to dry, I used  the Kanban tree stamp with the black memento ink to stamp the trees on the snow layers. I just inked the stamp once so that the background trees were fainter than the foreground. The 2 deer stamps were also from the Kanban set but after I had stamped them with the memento ink, I went over the top with my black promarker just to make it a little darker. I then used 3d foam to mount the frame onto the topper and then put that onto the card.

The final aspect was the silver message peel-off by Anita's which I got from the NEC. The pearlescent aspect of the topper looks particulalry good when the light shines on it and I think it has worked really well.

NEC goodies!!!

Just a quick post about the lovely new stuff I bought from the NEC at the weekend and some new recommendations of people to buy that stash from!!!

ENVELOPES!!!
I always get most of my envelopes from the NEC as you get a wide selection and usually some special offer prices too! 'A Touch of Craft' is always my first choice as you can mix and match all of their envelope packs and get 5 for £5. They usually have a good selection of colours but really excelled themselves this year with some beautiful pearlescent envelopes that match perfectly to the card I am using for some wedding invitations. 30 for £2 was a bargain too!

Embossing Powders!!!
The WOW! embossing stand http://www.wowembossingpowder.co.uk/ also had a proper bargain! 12 christmas coloured embossing powders in a case £5. They sell for £15 on their website!


RIBBON!!!
The 'PolkaDoodles' stand http://www.polkadoodles.co.uk/ had some truly beautiful ribbon this year with one inparticular being very punk inspired and just my sort of thing. At £2.75 for 2 metres it's pretty expensive but a-may-zing! Black background, red, white & blue stars, tattoo style hearts & skulls!!! It's available on the 'woven ribbon' section of their website if you want to take a look!


DCWV stacks!!!
These are my ultimate weakness but a bit difficult to find at the show. Not many people seem to stock them now and unfortunately I have no idea who I actually bought it from but it is beautiful. Foiled, glittered, spiders, ravens, haunted houses...   It is going to be perfect for my zombie cards when I finally get round to making some more!

La Pashe!!!
I also picked up a brilliant cd-rom called 'The Big One' which contains pretty much all of the 'La Pashe' designs available e.g. flippin', trinitage, framin; and wacky wheels designs. It also has some that are exclusive to the cd too e.g. flippin' men santa claus. It was only £8.99 and means that I can print as many as I need of each of their designs. Major Bargain!!!

HARRY POTTER!!!
I love Harry Potter (esp. Ron!) and was so excited to see (and buy!) a fabulous stamp set by a brand called 'IndigoBlu' www.indigoblu.com/?p=330 They are called 'Hocus Pocus' and include a beautiful owl in front of a castle design, a raven on a pile of books, a hooded figure looking out of a gothic style arch and a spider hanging from it's web, as well as 2 phrase/messages. They are unmounted stamps and in total are about A5 size. They cost £12.99 and are incredibly strokeable!

Templates/Stencils!
I really wanted to buy some nice 6x6 stencils at the show but luck was not with me- don't go to the NEC on a Sunday! Unfortunately the 2 designs I really wanted from the A1 crafts http://www.a1crafts.co.uk/ stand had already sold out but I will hopefully be ordering them from their website soon, so will then blog to let you all know what sort of service they provide!

The only disappointment of the day was the Create & Craft stand where big signs advertised cricut cartridges for £15- none left by Sunday!

I suppose I can't have everything!!!

NEC Birmingham

I'm off to the NEC this weekend for bargains galore & lots of exciting new products (hopefully)!!!

Just thought i'd blog about HOW i approach a big show like the NEC so that some of you can find the bargains too...

The key is to not get carried away- difficult i know!

I start with a blank notebook and a good selection of pens (spares are essential because if one stopped working i'd be screwed!) and also a couple of highlighters. The first few hours are spent looking carefully at every stand in the place and writing down anything I like the look of. I write down the stall number and the product including price. The system sometimes has to be changed if a product is rare or you definitely know it is only available on one stand e.g. lily of the valley toppers or DCWV stacks. They can be bought straight away!!!

I then spend lunchtime looking through all my notes and comparing the prices of each item that i want to buy. I then highlight each one and return to the stalls in question. If the cheapest stall has sold out, I can check my notes and go to the next one on the list.

It works really well for me and means that I don't buy something and then see it cheaper on another stall- that would really annoy me as i'd be thinking that i could have got something else with that money!!!

If there are certain items that i definitely need e.g. envelopes then i will write all of the stall names & prices for them onto one sheet as i see them just to save a bit of sorting over lunch.

hope this helps anyone who goes to a big show and doesn't really know where to start!